A year after the ban came into force hunt supporters continued to call for it to be repealed.

The Countryside Alliance described the legislation as "derided, discredited and damaged beyond repair". Countryside Alliance chairman and Labour MP Kate Hoey warned that more foxes were being killed now than when hunting was legal.

She told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the law was broken inadvertently as dogs continued to kill foxes.

But animal welfare groups and ministers praised the law, saying there were no loopholes or grey areas.